New CMOS battery after only three years?

Hey everyone. So something unexpected happened to my main Intel Core i5 gaming rig last week. Every time I turned it on, I would get a message stating that the BIOS has reset itself to its default values. The only custom setting I really had, though, was my RAM speed, which I bump up to 1866 because that’s what it was rated for. So I set it back to that, but then, next boot, yep, BIOS goes back to default again with the same message.

So I did some research, and all signs seemed to point to my BIOS battery needing to be replaced. I happen to have a bunch of those CR2032 button batteries on hand, so I cracked open my case, took out the old battery, installed the new one, and my PC has been fine since. (That was tricky, though … at first I wasn’t sure how the darn thing was supposed to come out, but I realized that if I took a very small screwdriver and sort of pushed down on the edge of the battery where it touches this “tab,” then all of sudden POP it flew right out of its socket.)

So problem solved, but I guess my point is, sheesh, I had this PC custom built at Micro Center not much more than three years ago. Isn’t it a bit early for the battery to go? As far as I can remember, I never had to do this. However, I read that if what they put in when the system is built isn’t good to begin with, it’s possible that it won’t last long.

It’s a relief though, because that BIOS message had me worrying that something was going to go really south with the system.